This article is Part 6 of a series. Click here for Part 1.
Adele Michal received the award for Most Creative Booth at the recent Be the Change event put on by Suzanne Evans, so clearly there were a lot of things she’d done very well. But as she invited me to do my critique, I also found a number of things she could improve upon (which I’ll go through in a minute).
But even with a lot of things done “wrong,” her booth was still performing very well for her – she was happy with both the overall traffic to the booth, as well as the number of people who were signing up to do discovery sessions with her the following week.
So how can we explain her success? Simple. Adele was speaking the language of her ideal customer.
The Role of Ideal Customer In Your Marketing Message
Who is Adele’s ideal customer? It’s a high-I personality type. That means they like fun, they like pretty colors, and they like eye-catching, emotionally exciting marketing messages. How do we know this? Because that’s what Adele is! And when you’re a coach like Adele, your best customers usually match your own personality type.
It’s worth noting that my personality type is somewhat different. First of all, I’m a wordsmith – I’m a copywriter, bestselling author and blogger. So my favorite part of anyone’s marketing message is the words they use!
Secondly, I’m a high-D personality type. That means I like to cut to the chase. When I’m looking at a sponsor’s booth, I’m thinking, “Tell me what I need to know, so I can decide as quickly as possible whether to spend any time here or not.”
So the marketing which draws me in is different than the marketing that would draw other personality types in. Since Adele’s customer isn’t necessarily a high-D like me, but rather a high-I like herself, the booth she created did a good job of attracting her ideal customers.
A lot of what Adele was doing with her booth was effective at drawing in those high-I ideal clients of hers:
the booth was bright and colorful
everything was well-branded, down to the outfits Adele and her assistant were wearing
both Adele and her assistant have very out-going personalities, which most of her ideal customers probably do too
Adele had crafted a very strong, concise statement of exactly what she does: “I help women entrepreneurs earn more money, by getting them to stop giving away their best stuff for free.”
How Could Adele Improve Her Booth
That said, here are the improvements I’d like to suggest for Adele’s booth.
While her booth is colorful and eye-catching as I’ve said, there is no Call to Action – a reason for me to stop and talk to you. When I originally gave her that feedback, she said, “Yes, I do have a Call to Action – here it is!” And she showed me an 8½ x 11 flyer on the back table of her booth. (There’s an image of her flyer below)
So let me clarify – in a booth environment, your Call to Action has to be on the banner that hangs 7 feet in the air, above people’s heads. So as attendees are walking by the rows and rows of booths, there’s something that reaches out and grabs them.
(Back to what I said before – words are what grab the attention of a personality like mine; but exciting colors or even an interactive animation might be better attention-grabbers to put on your banner, if you’re trying to attract other personality types).
The reason your attention-grabber has to be up high is that in the best-case scenario, your booth will be filled with people. So the people walking by in the aisles won’t be able to see anything you’ve put on your table at the back of the booth, or anything printed on your backdrop at hip level or even eye level.
In Adele’s case, her banner was bright and colorful, so it appealed to her ideal customers, the high-I’s. However, to make it even more appealing, she could have added a big arrow, or a friendly speech-bubble saying “Come on in!” That would still be aligned with the kind of fun and inviting messaging her ideal customers would respond to, while also incorporating a “command” for them to do something – which is one of the pillars of strong marketing.
Another thing we talked about is that Adele has lovely little presents in the back of her booth. They’re paper cups, filled with treats, and wrapped in cellophane and ribbons. Very pretty! When I asked her what they’re for, she said they’re thank you gifts for when they sign up for a discovery session. (Giving a gift, or a prize, is a very high-I thing to do! 😉
I suggested the gifts should be out in the front of the booth, helping to grab people’s attention. First of all, they are very pretty and eye-catching, but they can’t catch any eyes if they’re hidden back here on your back table. And secondly, if it’s an incentive for people to sign up, you want the to be able to see them, so they start wanting one.
To learn a lot more about how to incorporate powerful, persuasive messaging into your sales copy and advertising pieces, buy a copy of “The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Sleaze-Free Selling” on Amazon today.